A dissertation or thesis is likely to be the longest and the most difficult piece of work a student has ever completed. It can, nevertheless, be a really fulfilling piece of work because, unlike essays and other assignments, the student can choose a special interest issue and work independently.
The research journey will be a lot smoother if the student
clearly understands the big-picture of how to write a dissertation or thesis.
Here are some tips to outline the big picture of how to write a high-quality
dissertation or thesis without losing your mind in the process.
Step 1: Understand what is a dissertation
So, what exactly is a dissertation?
To put it simply, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece
of research that reflects the typical research method. It’s not an
opinion piece, nor is it a place to push your agenda or persuade someone to
agree with you. Now, what is the usual research procedure? There are four main
steps:
- Ask
a question(s) that is(are) highly specific and well-articulated (your
research topic)
- Check
out what other researchers have to say about it
- If
they haven’t appropriately responded, collect and analyze your own data in
a scientifically rigorous manner.
- Respond
to your initial question(s) based on your conclusions from your investigation
Step 2: Select a unique, valuable topic
As discussed, asking a clear, well-articulated question is
the first step in the research process. To put it another way, you’ll need to
come up with a study topic that poses a specific question or series of
questions (these are called research questions).
A few key characteristics of a good dissertation topic are
given below:
- Clear
Your research topic should be very specific about what
you’re going to research, what you want to learn, and how you’re going to learn
it. There should be no ambiguity or uncertainty concerning the topic of your
investigation.
- Unique
Your research should address a question or set of questions
that hasn’t been addressed before, or that hasn’t been addressed in a
particular context (for example, in a specific country or industry).
- Important
It is not enough to just ask a unique or original inquiry;
the query must add value. To put it another way, answering your research
questions correctly should add value to the field of research or the
industry.
Step 3: Come up with a compelling research proposal
Once you’ve found a good research topic, the following step
is to persuade your university to let you conduct research on it. No matter how
fantastic you believe your topic is, it must first get approval before you can
proceed with your research. A research proposal can be used as a tool to get
this done.
So, what exactly does a research proposal entail?
- You
have a well-articulated, distinct, and significant topic (this may seem
similar…)
- You’ve
done some preliminary research into the existing literature on your issue
(i.e. a literature review)
- You
have a rough plan in place for how you’ll collect and analyze data (i.e. a
methodology)
Step 4: Write a strong introduction chapter
After your proposal has been approved, it’s time to start
writing your dissertation or thesis
Your proposal will serve as the foundation for your first
three chapters — introduction, literature review, and methodology.
What is the purpose of the opening chapter?
In general, it will comprise the following:
- A
brief overview of the study’s context, including an explanation of the
research’s main focus
- A
problem statement that describes the issue with the current state of
research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
- Your
research questions – the exact questions that your research will attempt
to solve (based on the knowledge gap)
- The
importance of your research – in other words, why it’s vital and how the
findings will benefit the world
Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review
You’ll need to do some initial evaluation in Steps 2 and 3
to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s
just the beginning. When you get to the literature review stage of your
dissertation or thesis, you’ll need to delve even further into the current
research and create a thorough literature review chapter. There are two main stages:
- Reading
up
The first step is to do a thorough review of the available
literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, and so on)
to obtain a thorough understanding of the current status of research on your
issue. Reading and digesting the necessary literature is a time-consuming and a
demanding task. Many students underestimate the amount of effort that goes into
this step, so make sure to budget enough time for it when planning your study.
- Writing
up
After you’ve read and digested all of the material, you’ll
need to write up your literature review chapter. You’ll need to do at least
three things to write a successful literature review chapter:
- You
must synthesise the available research rather than simply summarising it.
In other words, you must demonstrate how various bits of theory fit
together, as well as what is agreed and what’s not agreed upon by
researchers.
- You
should identify a research gap that your study will address. To put it
another way, you must explain the problem in order for your research topic
to propose a solution.
- You
should base your methodology and approach to your own research design on
previous research.
Step 6: Conduct your own research
When you’ve completed your literature evaluation and have a
thorough comprehension of the existing research, it’s time to develop your own
study (finally!) You’ll do this study with the goal of discovering the answers
to your specific research topic.
The first step is to plan your research strategy and draft a
methodology section.
- Create
a research strategy
Designing your research strategy and writing a methodology
chapter are the first steps.In another way, this chapter explains the “how” of
your research. The “what” and “why” were explored in the introduction and
literature review chapters, so it’s only natural that the “how” should be
discussed next – that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.
- Execute:
collect and analyse your data.
You’ll put your research idea into action and begin
collecting data once you’ve finalised it. This could include conducting
interviews, running an online poll, or using any other technique of data
collection. Data collecting can take a long time (especially if you conduct
in-person interviews), so make sure you provide enough time in your project
schedule for it. Things don’t always go as planned (for example, you don’t get
as many survey responses as you expected), so factor in some extra time in your
budget.
After you’ve gathered your data, you’ll need to undertake
some data preparation before diving into the analysis.
Step 7: Make a presentation of your findings
It’s finally time to share your findings after you’ve
finished your analysis. You’ll usually present your findings in two chapters in
a dissertation or thesis: the results chapter and the discussion chapter.
Results and discussion chapters’ difference
While the results and discussion chapters are identical, the
results chapter simply presents the processed data neatly and clearly without
interpretation, whereas the discussion chapter discusses the story the data is
telling – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.
Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters
(results and discussion) are occasionally consolidated into one. So make sure
to verify with your institution. This section is about presenting the
conclusions of your research in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner,
regardless of chapter arrangement.
Step 8: Make a conclusion and talk about the
ramifications
You’ll wrap up your research in this chapter by highlighting
the most important findings and discussing the consequences of those
discoveries.
What are the most important findings? The key discoveries are those that have a direct bearing on your original research questions and overall study goals (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). On the other side, the implications describe what your findings mean for industry or research in your field.